There were only 21 seconds left in the first half Saturday when Kedon Slovis dropped back to pass from his 37, but it was enough time for a flood of events to occur that could impact Pitt beyond the loss to Tennessee.
Sack, fumble, injury to Slovis, Tennessee recovery, field goal and a 24-17 halftime deficit for the Panthers, instead of 21-17. That’s six results that didn’t have to happen but ended up negatively impacting Pitt’s chance of winning a game that went into overtime. Coach Pat Narduzzi referred to the field goal as a “freebie.”
Asked why he didn’t order Slovis to safely take a knee and run out the clock, Narduzzi was honest in the assessment of his decision.
“I’m a (dummy), Jerry, yes. Thank you,” he told the Tribune-Review. “Yeah. There’s no doubt about it.
“You go back and look, that’s the one … That’s why we kneeled down in the fourth quarter and take it to overtime. We weren’t going to take any chances (at the end of the game) and make something crazy happen like that happened (in the first half).
“Even on that play, if we just throw to Bubs (wide receiver Bub Means) in the flat wide open, if we just throw it there and take that, we’ll probably feel pretty good right now. But that’s not what happened.”
Slovis was sacked and injured by Tennessee’s 6-foot-5, 260-pound defensive end Tyler Baron, and he did not return in the second half.
Narduzzi was, clearly, looking for points, knowing Tennessee already had scored three touchdowns in a span of little more than 11 minutes of clock time. On the previous snap, Tennessee punted from its 16, giving Pitt field position beyond the shadow of the goal post and — as it turned out — creating a temptation Pitt’s coach just couldn’t resist.
